NASCAR Popularity Dropping Like a Rock

[Ray]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/na ... over_x.htm

Tracks don't release figures, but estimates from NASCAR reports show crowds have decreased in a third of the races this season. Fewer than half the Cup races were sellouts, and that includes two at the 92,000-seat grandstand of California Speedway east of Los Angeles, NASCAR's largest market.

The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on Aug. 6 drew a crowd estimated by The Indianapolis Star at 240,000 â?? about 20,000 shy of capacity at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was the smallest turnout in 13 seasons at the track that ranks in prestige on the Cup circuit behind only Daytona International Speedway.

Some observers, such as third-generation driver Kyle Petty, say the season's length â?? from February to the Sunday before Thanksgiving â?? can be interminable. "I'm an idiot, and this is all I've ever done, but my God, 36 freaking races a year? Even I'm not going to tune in every week," Petty says.

A record 12.5 million households tuned in to the Daytona 500 on NBC on Feb. 19, but TV audiences sagged for 30 of the first 34 races this year. For 16 of those races the decline was at least 10%. Ratings on Fox, which broadcast the first half of the season, dropped 7%. TNT and NBC were down 5% and 12%, respectively, for the second half.

NBC, deciding NASCAR's rights fee exceeded value, dropped out of negotiations last year. ABC and ESPN take over in 2007.

yeah, NBC, get out now before it hits rock bottom. The only reason NASCAR was popular during the Daytona 500 was because it was a super-hyped social event --like the Superbowl.

[blackdog4444]

About time those air-headed d-bags finally figured out that cars going around in circles is only entertainment for KIDS...
Not FULL GROWN ADULTS.

[abitagirl]

What's wrong, not enough accidents?

Well, come on, you don't seriously think they watch it just to see cars go around a track over and over for hours on end, do you?

[blackdog4444]

I'll only watch if someone's arm flew off and there was blood everywhere because, you know, I'm just psycho like that.

But what the NASCAR jockeys want is to see how fast someone can do so many circles around. When an accident does happen, sometimes they say "foul play" and start rioting like a bunch of drunken monkeys.

[SPORTS ROCK.]

I'll only watch if someone's arm flew off and there was blood everywhere because, you know, I'm just psycho like that.

oh wow you sound so nice. But i guess all these hours on world of warcraft do... detach one from reality. Be careful. VIDEO GAMES AREN'T GOOD FOR YOU!

[abitagirl]

I'll only watch if someone's arm flew off and there was blood everywhere because, you know, I'm just psycho like that.

oh wow you sound so nice. But i guess all these hours on world of warcraft do... detach one from reality. Be careful. VIDEO GAMES AREN'T GOOD FOR YOU!

And sitting on your ass in front of the TV for hours on end drinking beer and eating pork rinds is?

[SPORTS ROCK.]

I'll only watch if someone's arm flew off and there was blood everywhere because, you know, I'm just psycho like that.

oh wow you sound so nice. But i guess all these hours on world of warcraft do... detach one from reality. Be careful. VIDEO GAMES AREN'T GOOD FOR YOU!

And sitting on your ass in front of the TV for hours on end drinking beer and eating pork rinds is?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You're funny. Do you know anything about sports? Do you even know that I don't just watch them, I PLAY them as well? You, abita, seem to think that all sports fans are fat, lazy and alcoholic when in reality, sports fans are generally far more outgoing and motivated than people who just sit at the computer all day. After all, we understand the concepts of teamwork and support. I don't like pork rinds, by the way. SOrry to disappoint you.

[Ray]

But you know the VAST majority of sports fans don't play sports and the extent of their participation can be measured in pork rinds, chips, beer, and soda.

If you really do play sports, you are the exception.

[greencom]

But you know the VAST majority of sports fans don't play sports and the extent of their participation can be measured in pork rinds, chips, beer, and soda.

If you really do play sports, you are the exception.

You hit the nail on the head Ray. The stands at stadiums are chock full of fat and STUPID sports fans. I'm not putting fat people down, I was fat as a child myself, but sports fans are no more fit than sports haters. BTW SPORTS ROCK why are you sitting at YOUR computer talking to us sports haters? You need us that's why! You have to convince yourself that you are right and we are wrong, no way, we don't go to sports forums, why do you come here?

Greencom

[Earl]

That is a good question. There are a number of websites that represent viewpoints or groups I either have no respect for or detest. For example, in the early 1960s the Houston chapter of the John Birch Society attempted to blacklist my sister (who was a college student back then), accusing her of being a Communist simply because she had launched a petition to the national headquarters of her sorority calling on them to drop their racist bylaws and because she had participated in a peaceful local demonstration against a company that had "Whites only" hiring practices. If the Birchers had blacklisted my sister during the 1950s, they would have destroyed her professionally. So, I have a personal reason for detesting the John Birch Society; but I still don't waste time harrassing their website -- anymore than I do the websites of the Communist Party USA, the Ku Klux Klan, or the American Civil Liberties Union. So, the question remains; and it's a perfectly legitimate one.

Do you feel personally offended by this website, or are your feelings actually hurt? I'm not speaking facitiously here; I'm speaking out of complete sincerity without a shred of hostility or malice. I repeat, we don't all necessarily have the same mind here. Besides, no one here objects to individuals participating in sports.

[blackdog4444]

I'll only watch if someone's arm flew off and there was blood everywhere because, you know, I'm just psycho like that.

oh wow you sound so nice. But i guess all these hours on world of warcraft do... detach one from reality. Be careful. VIDEO GAMES AREN'T GOOD FOR YOU!

I never detached from reality, unlike you. I don't zone out and become brainwashed by my own game and I certainly don't riot over it - or become a fat ass, one of the two.

[Earl]

I miss blackdog4444.

[blackdog4444]

Aww you miss little miss creepy ass. So nice.

[Earl]

Nah, you're not creepy.

[entitledg]

Nice people out here and Hi Ray, I don't know how go for quote,I agree with you, you're so right we nascar experience fans cannot enjoy a match or any games without eating a lot